@Amy: In order to have a slow-motion video, you have to take more frames of video per second than normal, and that takes a special camera to pull off… a high-speed camera. The extra frames played back at the normal rate are what results in the slow-motion effect.

On Cats 101 (Animal Planet) they said that extra blorpiness (“skin flap” they called it) between the belly and hind legs gives these cats greater range of motion in that area, giving them a higher top speed. So no making fun of the Round Mound of Rebound, it’s all functional!

The wonderful thing about Maru
Is Maru’s a wonderful thing
His top is made out of rubber
His bottom is made out of springs
He’s bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most frustrating thing about Maru
Is he’s the only one

wuyizidi (comment 26) : Thank you for the info on cat belly blorpage. My kitteh George has a LOT of teh blorpage, and he also can run super fast…now I understand why! :-)

(BTW the aforementioned blorpage, along with super long and soft fur, makes George’s entire belleh into a gigantic axis of snorgling which provides me with lots of happy kitteh huffing. There, I said it, and I’m not ashamed.!)

@wuyizidi: Just as handy on a skinny cat, we called those “speed flaps” on ours, and hoo boy could he go! I have a vivid memory of him going full tear, his legs eating the yardage. He was also a great, explosive leaper like Maru. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the speed flaps also put more spring into the step for pouncing!

Yay Maru! I had never seen another cat besides mine do a back leg hop like that before….I always called it the Mojo Two-step (named for my Mr. Mojo, of course!). Now I know there’s a Maru Two-step! Awesome!

Is no one else concerned that Maru’s addictive behavior seems to have escalated? I guess boxes are a gateway addiction…we’ve moved on to hampers and trash cans. I think we all need to fly to Japan for an intervention…and a good snorgling!!

Maru has gone where few kittehs have dared to go: beyond awesome and over the moon: He has attained Qteness to the nth degree……I know whenever I see one of his videos, that the next best thing to actually owning him (an obvious impossibility of
course-I’m nowhere near Japan) is just to sit there and revel in his wunnerfullness…..!!!! (Mebbee tonight I’ll dream abowt kidnapping {catnapping?} hims…. or purrhapps kidnapping hims while he’s catnapping?) ‘K…I goes naow…
Kthxbai…O.o

Those are impressive leaps! Notice when he comes out of the hamper & basket, there’s no scrabbling — one jump puts his hind feet on the edge! I also like where after the pounce it looks like he’s about to fall over, but then he’s like “Naah”, and just pulls his foreleg out from where he was leaning on his elbow.